The Hearts of Goblins

Chapter X

Around a blazing bonfire, a merry band of fiery red creatures danced and sang in foolish glee. A company of six or so thin-limbed humanoid creatures with beaks, feathery fluff in odd places, and long thick tails. Their red and orange skin blended with the fire and the way they danced and lept about made them look to be apart of the blaze they surrounded. They cackled as one of the creatures removed its own head and tossed it in the air. Headless and blind, the creature's body stumbled around with open arms searching for its head. The others grabbed the seemingly severed head and bounced it around to each other, howling with laughter each time the now headless member of their party reached for its head.
Didymus kept his ears and tail down as he observed the rambunctious gang of 'Fireys'. He understood that fireys knew not the difference between themselves and other species. They would try to play the games of their kind with anyone who passed. Though they never could understand why other species didn't want to take off their own heads as the fireys would. Didymus didn't need to give these heathens any reason to take off his head and try to toss it back to him.
Didymus growled lowly to himself. The heat of the blaze was enough to make Didymus uncomfortable alone, but firey bodies, imbued with their natural fire magic, acted as an amplifier of the relentless heat. The small knight could do nothing but clench his jaws tightly shut in an attempt to keep his tongue from lolling in a pant.
So he watched uncomfortably from afar as fireys tore each other apart for entertainment.
Soon a fireys head went sailing past Didymus. The head still howled with laughter.
Didymus watched the body stumble around towards his direction to retrieve the lost cranium. Didymus' eyes widened in horror as the lanky beast nearly stepped on his small body. In a flash, Didymus scurried into the nearest patch of undergrowth.
"Damned heathens." He said to himself.
His uncovered eye stung as he realized that the shrubbery he had dove into was directly in the path of smoke from the bonfire. Blinking back reflexive tears and holding back a choking cough, Didymus watched and waited for an opportunity. Then, through the smoke, he saw it. An arm abandoned by the fireys for now. Didymus' lips parted in a sharp-toothed canine grin. Soon, he'd have the detached hand of a firey.

"Where are they!?" Jareth bellowed, his voice being heard all throughout his castle. Goblins scurried and drew back in fear of the king's wrath.
Jareth picked up a scrawny little goblin by the front of its shirt.
"Where did that foul devil go!?" He shouted into the goblin's face.
"Honestly, Jareth, it's no big deal." Said the petite Fae that stood behind him. Jareth dropped the goblin and turned around to glare at the man.
"If you came here looking for Emrys, then that rotten cur is either in this city or in my Labyrinth!"
"Or somewhere else entirely. You're being ridiculous." Said the man.
"You know Emrys wouldn't go anywhere that didn't have a place for them to gain some sort of profit. Where else would they have gone, Mitah?" Jareth asked.
Mitah sighed and glared up at Jareth.
Mitah was a rather short and thin man. He stood with a calm and confident demeanor. His face was heart-shaped and boyishly handsome even as he wore an expression of lazy annoyance. As though all other creatures were below him. His royally made clothes, disdainful gaze, and authoritative posture let everyone know how much power Mitah possessed.
Jareth glared back down at him challengingly. Jareth was surprised that with the size of Mitah's ego that the man could possibly stand so straight.
"Well, you've checked everywhere in his filthy little city. I don't think the pathetic ilk, that you surround yourself with, have any idea where Emrys is." Mitah sighed, with a roll of his bottle-green eyes.
"You're certain that they are not with either court?" Jareth asked.
"The Seelie court would have a fit if Emrys arrived anywhere near the grounds. We'd know by now if they were there." Mitah inspected his own long dark brown braid lazily. He enjoyed each second that Jareth grew more irritated by his silence.
"And?" Jareth seethed through clenched teeth.
Mitah sneered and finally continued.
"And I've scoured every meter of the Night court looking for them. They're not there."
"Why?"
"Pardon?" Mitah asked.
"Why have you been so intent on finding them?" Jareth clarified, "In addition, why were you visiting the dark ones?"
Mitah furrowed his brow just remembering the trouble Emrys had caused.
"Father and I traveled all that way to have a meeting with their court, but the night court is so damn anal that they won't even begin a meeting until all party members are present. Guess which little whore didn't show up."
Mitah and Jareth walked together throughout the castle to ease their tension as they spoke.
"What was the cause of such a meeting?" Jareth asked. Mitah made a lazy gesture of dismissal about the subject.
"Some tripe. Trading and transactions and such."
"I'll search out Emrys. They must be somewhere in the labyrinth." Jareth sighed deeply, "The damned Cubi just couldn't wait to ruin my game."
Mitah raised an eyebrow at his companion.
"What game?"
"Two humans wished to go on an adventure. I'd say solving the labyrinth is about as adventurous as it gets." Jareth said. Mitah scoffed at the taller man.
"You just want to see what the labyrinth will do for them."
"Well, " said Jareth, "that too."
Mitah's demeanor turned serious as he neared the door from whence he had entered.
"Can I trust you to find Emrys?" Mitah asked.
"You can trust me with anything," Jareth replied. Mitah smirked at him.
"Well, I quite doubt that." He opened the door. Inside there was only blackness.
"I'll find them," Jareth promised.
"You'd better. Father is quite impatient, you know." Mitah said back.
"I always remember you being the impatient one," Jareth said with a sly smirk. Mitah smiled, but it did not reach his eyes.
"Just get it done, brother." He said, and stepped through the door, into the blackness.
Jareth sighed and closed the door. A moment later he opened it again and walked into his personal chambers.

"What's that thing doin' wif my hand!?" A firey yelled as Didymus almost made it away into the undergrowth. The nearest creature swept Didymus into its arms.
"He wanna play?" Another firey asked.
"Let's take off his head!" Yelled another. Didymus growled and yapped.
"You will do no such thing, sir!" He yapped as he squirmed easily out of the Fireys long fingers. Didymus landed easily on his feet. The firey reached for him again. Didymus ran between the firey's legs and with all his might rammed into the firey's knee. The creature's leg popped easily out of its socket and the unsteady firey tumbled backward into two of its companions.
"Hey! That's not how you play!" Yelled a firey on the other side of the fire.
"Where's tha referee?" Cried another.
Didymus turned tail and ran as quickly as his little legs would carry him away from the fiery fiends and towards his newfound friends, with the hand of a firey in his grasp.